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Video: Cabbie To Brooklyn-Bound Fare: "I'm Gonna Break Your Face!"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 1, 2011
Modified Aug 2, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 1, 2011
Modified Aug 2, 2011
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Despite increased fines and enforcement for cabbies who break the law and refuse to take customers anywhere in the five boroughs, one hack clearly states that he "doesn't give a f*ck" if a fare takes down his number after he refuses to drive to Williamsburg from Manhattan. When the customer declines to leave the car, the cabbie tells him, "Get the f*ck out or I'm gonna break your face." While the last video we saw of cabbie discrimination against Brooklyn was "deeply disturbing," this one guarantees that tears of indignation will be pattering steadily upon the pages of your moleskine.
Reader Alex L. tells us that he shot the video last Saturday around 1:30 a.m. as he and a friend got into a cab at Houston & Allen in the Lower East Side:
He drove us about a block when he then pulled over to the curb and told us to get out (forcefully) and that he wouldn't drive us to Brooklyn and he was quitting his job and going back to school. He wasn't willing to take us anywhere after he pulled over. He basically didn't want to drive over the bridge to Brooklyn. Then he said that he was going on shift change.
Alex then writes that the cabbie "got out of the driver's seat and tried to fight me in the street," but no punches, other than the one the cabbie threw in the cab, were thrown, and that he just filed a formal complaint against the driver with the Taxi & Limousine Commission today.
Update: While the video of the incident has been removed on YouTube, CBS 2 is now showing clips from it.
Tagged
brooklyn
cabs
Lower East Side
taxi drama
taxis
why is getting a ride to brooklyn so hard
willaimsburg
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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